Tuesday, October 17, 2017

The Commotions - Volume II

 
The Commotions - Volume II 


Volume II, the dozen song release from Canada’s eleven piece R&B and soul act The Commotions, explores a variety of styles under that musical umbrella with a confidence level and steadiness that we often associate with older players and long standing musical units. Sax player Brian Asselin, vocalist Rebecca Noelle, and guitarist David Gaw handle the band’s songwriting on this second release and the trio of songwriters achieve an unity of sound and approach that’s surprising considering they bring three distinct strands of influence into play here. The Commotions’ Volume II uses a horn section to fantastic effect and relegates the guitar to a secondary role and features strong production that emphasizes a chunky bottom end for the band’s sound. This is one of the best releases you’ll hear in 2017 regardless of genre and Volume II is such a high quality it seems to promise even more formidable releases to come. 
 
“Good Enough” propels this album towards the sky without a hint of hesitation. Rebecca Noelle’s vocals figure in a number of the songs on Volume II and her effect on the tracks is uniformly transformative. This specific song comes off as a near perfect example of how musicians and singers can seemingly feed off one another and make a song’s natural build all the more dramatic. The horns take up a big portion of the song’s sound but The Commotions show they are capable of shifting gears with the next song. “Bad Girl” lets guitarist David Gaw roam a little more freely and his contributions emphasize the bluesy influences in the song. The blues influence in the band’s music doesn’t announce itself in any overt way, but any serious music fan will realize that it forms the essential bedrock of everything The Commotions do on Volume II. 
 
“Let Me Kiss You, Baby” will win over anyone still listening by this point and not entirely convinced. Noelle is absolutely on fire as a singer for this one and, much like the opener, the audience can allow themselves to be carried away by the sound of musicians responding to a once in a lifetime moment, Second singer Jeff Rogers gives a coolly confident performance on the song “Say Yes to Me Tonight” and the optimistic sweep powering the track comes at a great place in the album’s running order. Rogers is a little wilder and less formal with his singing on the album “Right Kind of Wicked” and the pumping soul energy of this tune is cut with a dash of funk to make it work even better. It concludes the album’s, arguably, most potent run beginning with the song “Let Me Kiss You, Baby”. The energy here is off the charts. 
 
Jeff Asselin’s drumming on “Last Look” is quite impressive considering how busy it is and how it never misses. Noelle shows another side of her vocal talent on the song by combining her liveliness with a looseness that other tracks don’t exhibit. Volume II ends on a bluesier note than some might expect with “Come Clean” and the smoky qualities of Rebecca Noelle’s singing are deliciously theatrical without ever sounding overwrought. The Commotions are a wonderful outfit that manage a massive sound that never sounds too cluttered or asks too much of the listener and Volume II seems to show them realizing their vision of music with brilliant results.  


Montey Zike

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